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South
Moreton is a pleasant village with an abundance of fine houses in the
south of the county south of the Wallingford to Didcot road. The name
means literally 'south moor village' and is Saxon in origin. The village
was built close to a causeway which was an important strategic crossing
of the swamp. Close to the church are the low remains of a Norman motte
which was probably built to guard the crossing. Some say that the motte
was an outlying defence of Wallingford Castle.
The parish church is the Church of St. John the Baptist. The church was
restored in about 1849, although parts of the church are Saxon and Norman.
The inside of the church is light and airy as there is no stained glass.
Outside the church is a massive yew tree which has been certified as over
1600 years old.
At one time there were two mills in the village - one for the manufacture
of paper and the other for corn - one of which is mentioned in the Domesday
Survey of 1086. The corn mill was also used as a rag store where the rags
were prepared for paper manufacture. They were then sent to the paper
mill in flat-bottomed boats. During the smallpox epidemic of 1799 the
corn mill house was used as a hospital. Nowadays the remains of only one
of these mills are evident.
The only pub in the village is The Crown.
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Images
of South Moreton
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(Click
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